Can a weak power supply harm your system?

[natty1]

I just wanna know what happens when you run a system that consumes more power than your PSU can put out. More specifically, I'd like to know if there's any risk of damage to the system. Please don't respond unless you really know what you're talking about. Thank you

 

[MarcVenice]

Depends on the PSU. Higher qaulity PSU's simply won't fire up or will shut down when pushed beyond their maximum output. Lower qaulity PSU's can do the same as higher qaulity PSU's, but have increased risk of going out with a bang, a flash of flames, some sparks etc, taking out none to several components, including HDD's, Videocards, or even your motherboard/cpu. It's never wise to push a PSU to it's limits though, because it decreases the lifespan of the PSU.

 

[Acanthus]

In my experience, overloaded power supplies can take friends with them when they die. It depends on the quality of the PSU build to whether it is likely or not you will lose other components.

Powmax, Sparkle, and Antec Smartpower 2.0 series power supplies for example... are not so good. (although i would like to note, the other antec series are fantastic)

 

[natty1]

Well I have an Antec Earthwatts 500 which is supposedly a high quality PSU. So I should have nothing to worry about then?

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: natty1
Well I have an Antec Earthwatts 500 which is supposedly a high quality PSU. So I should have nothing to worry about then?

Yep. As long as you are not running dual GX2's with a OC'd Quad with 10 case fans and 5 HDD's, 500w is fine for the majority of systems.

 

[natty1]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: natty1
Well I have an Antec Earthwatts 500 which is supposedly a high quality PSU. So I should have nothing to worry about then?

Yep. As long as you are not running dual GX2's with a OC'd Quad with 10 case fans and 5 HDD's, 500w is fine for the majority of systems.

What I wanna try to run is a GTX 280. But I was worried that if my PSU was too weak it might get damaged and I would be out 600 bucks.